‘Hometown rodeo’

RITZVILLE — It’s not a very big rodeo, but it’s an enthusiastic one.

“We have all events,” said Ritzville Rodeo board member Julie Hartz. “Bareback, saddle bronc, ranch bronc riding, steer wrestling, barrel racing, breakaway roping, calf roping, team roping head and heel and some junior events like goat tying.”

Goat tying is a girls' event, similar to calf roping, often found at high school rodeos, Hartz explained.

“The girls come flying through the gate on their horse,” she said. “Run 30, 40 miles an hour and jump off and tie the goat.”

This is the Ritzville Rodeo’s 53rd year, Hartz said. It’s an open rodeo, which means it’s not limited to riders from any particular association.

“We have a full program,” Hartz said. “We probably have over 40 breakaway ropers. Our team roping is going to be big as well.”

Ranch bronc riding is an event you won’t see at some of the bigger rodeos, but it’s an authentic test of a cowboy’s skills, and very traditional, said Lynette McMillan, who’s the stock contractor for the Ritzville Rodeo and also serves on the board. In ranch bronc riding, the rider uses a saddle and can hold on with both hands. Competitors are judged as much on style as on the technicalities of the ride.

“The wilder the horse's buck and the more crazy things they do, the higher their score,” said McMilllan. “They hat-whip the horse or wave their hat in the air, or (dress well). So it's judged a little bit different than the traditional saddle bronc riding.”

The Ritzville Rodeo has a beer garden, and music will be provided by local band Big Dawg and the Howlers, Hartz said.

The Western Washington Mounted Shooters will be in attendance at the rodeo, testing their marksmanship skills on horseback. They’ll put on a demonstration Saturday evening at the rodeo itself, Hartz said, and then Sunday they’ll have their competition, the Wheatland Shootout, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“They set up their obstacle courses and they'll have stakes with balloons,” she said. “And then they go through these obstacle courses and shoot the balloons.”

The bullets are blanks, Hartz added.

Also performing at the rodeo will be the Aces Wild Trick Riders, a group of young ladies from various towns in the Basin who perform acrobatics on horseback, the wilder the better. The group started out as the McMillan Family Trick Riders, McMillan said, and now her daughter Riley McMillan has taught a new group of riders, some as young as 10. They’ll perform both nights of the rodeo.

“It's a nice little rodeo,” McMillan said. “It's a nice hometown rodeo. And it's really good entertainment for the whole family.”

The Ritzville Rodeo will be held at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Ritzville Rodeo Grounds on East Templin Road in Ritzville.

Joel Martin may be reached via email at jmartin@columbiabasinherald.com.